Ezekiel 33:1-11

1The Lord gave this message to me:

2‘Son of man, speak to your people. Say to them, “Think about what might happen if I send an army to attack a country. The people of that country might choose one of their own men to be a guard to warn them about danger.

3Then, if the guard sees that enemy soldiers are ready to attack, he must blow a trumpet to warn his people.

4Someone might hear the sound of the trumpet, but he does nothing to keep himself safe. If enemy soldiers then come and kill that person, he is guilty of his own death.

5He deserves to die because he heard the sound of the trumpet, but he did nothing. When the trumpet warned him of danger, he should have got ready. If he had done that, he would have saved his life.

6But the guard might not blow the trumpet when he sees the enemy. He might not warn his people that the enemy is ready to attack them. Then enemy soldiers might kill some of his people. Those people will die because of their sins. But the guard will be guilty of their death, because he did not warn them of danger.”

7Son of man, I have chosen you to be a guard for Israel's people. You must listen to the messages that I give you. Then you must use what I say to warn the Israelites.

8I might say to a wicked person, “You will certainly die because of your sins.” Then you must warn that wicked person to stop doing wicked things. If you do not warn him, he will die because of his sins. But I will say that you are guilty of his death.

9If you do warn him and he refuses to change, he will die because of his sins. But you will have saved your own life.

10Son of man, give Israel's people this message: “You are saying, ‘The punishment for our sins is too much for us. We are dying because of all the bad things that we have done. What should we do so that we can continue to live?’ ”

11Tell them, “It does not make me happy to punish wicked people with death. I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live. I want wicked people to stop doing wrong things so that they may continue to live. So stop doing evil things! Israel's people, you do not have to die. Turn back to me!”